Sometimes good things come from an unexpected side. A couple of weeks ago the company I’m working for had an event for the kibbutz it’s based in, and I was asked to take some pictures despite the fact they had invited a photographer.

I’m not a professional in the sense that I don’t do gigs but this case was different so I agreed.

To be honest, it wasn’t the first time I was asked to do something like that. I made a short video of the Purim carnival several months ago, but no photos. This time it was right up my alley.

Ok, it’s not going to be about my love for coffee. Rather it’s going to be about how I love taking photos and posting them here, though one could disagree looking at my posting rhythm.

Anyway, let’s make it quick and simple because I don’t want to feel more awkward than I do.

The point is that as much as I would like to keep my website alive only on my own, it’s hard to find any extra finances for it when you’ve got a family with two kids. I don’t blame them for that in any way but it is what it is.

Till now I managed to keep the website alive but most of the time it was more of a life support than a full funding. Unfortunately, even this life support option is no more.

Which brings me to you, my dear followers and readers.

Some of you have already showed your support for my photography by buying my book on Blurb and I’m grateful for that. But I also understand that for some people a book is not always a suitable option, though otherwise they would gladly consider expressing their support.

Now if you ever wish to help the blog going you can do it in the form of a coffee donation. It’s way less than buying the book and I know that a small encouragement of someone’s efforts not only helps that person but gives you a warm feeling inside. Exactly like coffee.

It’s funny what one can fish out from the photo archive sometimes. Absolutely by accident I came across the photos from my studio photo shoot 7 years ago. That was my one and only time I shot in a studio with all the fancy strobes and stuff. My wife’s friend who is a professional photographer now and was studying back then wanted to have a photo shoot with my wife. Out of the blue, I suggested to rent a studio for a couple of hours and she (friend) agreed. So basically I piggybacked into the studio for no particular reason but curiosity.

My wife’s friend who is a professional photographer now and was only studying back then wanted to have a photo shoot with my wife. Out of the blue, I suggested to rent a studio for a couple of hours and she (the friend) agreed. So basically I piggybacked into the studio for no particular reason but curiosity.

While most of the photos are either my wife’s friend work or family archive, I’ve found this picture to show. Being a “bad” frame as you can see because the flash didn’t fire, it came out as a silhouette in warm tones and now I kinda like it.

The funny thing I mentioned in the beginning is that while looking at those studio photos I realize what fun working in a studio can be. Since that occasion, I hardly ever thought of doing this again. Only in the context of film photography, but considering all the fuss with flash syncing and film speeds, and inability to try and check the settings, I’m not sure I’ll get there soon.

Recently I’ve read a post by Frank Lehnen in which he points out a phenomenon of film simulation in digital photography. As he claims his loyalty to film he also asks an obvious question: “Why trying to imitate film when there’s the real thing?”

For the record, I completely agree with Frank on what he says about film and its simulation in digital. It really seems ridiculous and somewhat ironic that having run away from film in the early 2000s the photo industry now tackles the look and feel of it. However, I am as guilty as anyone who does this, in my digital photography I use film simulation. Why?

Obviously, I don’t speak for anyone but me, so these are my reasons for #fakefilm heresy.

The look

I just love the way film photos look and I want my digital pictures to be the same. I’m also quite a sucker for that film grain and colour reproduction. Or black and white reproduction if you will. As I’m not shooting commercial photography I don’t care too much about how realistic skin tones are or things like that. By trying different film presets I’m free to experiment and make even boring real-life looking digital files more exciting. Which brings me to my next point…

Fun

Post-processing pictures by applying this or that film preset can be fun. As I mentioned, photos from a DSLR may look too real. Unless I’m lucky with some amazing light, most of the time I want to liven up my pictures with a film effect. And it’s fun to see how different settings for film and ISO change your photo. I would even try some presets on that frame with amazing light just to see how they go together, and if I like what I see, I leave it.

Consistency

Digital photography plays a minor role in my photo work. I’m a film guy, so most of my photos are “the real thing”, but why my digital pictures should be a black sheep? At some point, I just decided that I want some sort of consistency in terms of the look, and that consistency is film. I’m not trying to fool anyone here, you can still easily detect a digital photo in disguise, but I believe it looks more in place among film pictures in a slideshow, for example.

As I’ve already mentioned somewhere else, my ideal digital camera would be the one that gives me the aesthetics of film and the security of digital. Oh, wait, there is one. It’s Fuji X100 series. Though again one can identify a digital file in a film simulation skin most of the time, those Classic Chrome and Acros settings are really good. And maybe some day I’ll get me one of those, but till then I’ll keep messing around with some film presets applied to my digital pictures.

Recently I’ve signed up for the Adobe CC photography package and now I enjoy the easiness of editing even my mobile photos in Lightroom on the go. I’m still a little bit concerned about the real profit of having Lr and Ps up to date and cloud connected, but while I can make use of them at least once a week it seems worth it.